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MrVersatile48
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Yahoo news want this networked:-
U.S. Panel Scans Religious Freedom Abroad
ATHENS, Greece - A U.S. government panel on religious freedom will raise alarms about Islamic extremism in Pakistan and rights for non-Muslims in Afghanistan in a report critical of key American trading partners and allies in the war on terror.
In its annual report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is also expected to renew its call for tougher measures against nations such as Saudi Arabia and economic giant China if they don't work to end religious persecution.
While the report  which goes to Capitol Hill on May 1 and is made public two days later  is not final and could change, commission officials interviewed by The Associated Press offered outlines of commission priorities, including concerns on Pakistan, Afghanistan and the mounting sectarian clashes in Iraq.
The commission's positions have caused friction with some U.S. officials worried about any possible disruptions to important trade talks or anti-terrorism alliances.
The commission, an independent body appointed by the White House and Congress, has no policy-making authority. But it has claimed an increasingly high profile especially since Sept. 11, 2001, as religious rights sometimes conflict with other U.S. priorities. Officials interviewed by the AP, including commission chairman Michael Cromartie, suggested this year's report will not back away from those sometimes inconvenient critiques.
The criticisms do not compel any specific action from Washington, and many of the commission proposals for economic and diplomatic sanctions are ignored. Yet the commission's reports increasingly serve as diplomatic leverage.
"There are a few countries that really don't care what we think," said Cromartie, citing North Korea and Iran. "But, by and large, most of them are really quite petrified  actually to my surprise  about being named by the commission.
"Religion and human rights have always been a kind of backwater of diplomacy," said Tom Farr, a former State Department official who is writing a book on religion and U.S. policies. "The commission struggles against this. It tries to push the State Department."
Currently, the State Department has designated eight "countries of particular concern" for denying religious openness based on commission recommendations, including Saudi Arabia, China, Iran and Sudan. Six other countries are on the commission "watch list," including Egypt, Indonesia and Nigeria.
The commission was created by Congress in 1998 to give religious issues greater weight on foreign policy. Its nine-member board over the years has included a broad range of clergy members, activists, educators and Washington heavyweights such as current U.N. Ambassador John Bolton and Elliott Abrams, now a national security adviser.
Its backers  including an unusual cross-section of liberals and conservatives  see it as a clear-eyed observer that is not restrained by the diplomatic layers at the State Department.
But critics come from two directions.
Human rights groups often want a more activist approach that's far outside the commission's scope. Others, however, say the commission goes too far. They believe the commission's calls for new sanctions  and sometimes direct criticism of State Department caution  sends mixed signals.
A former ambassador-at-large for the commission, Robert Seiple, said countries are confused by "vinegar and honey" approaches between the commission and the State Department.
"Rights groups think the commission is too tame," said Michael Young, who served as chairman of the commission from 1999-2005 and is the University of Utah's president. "On the other side, people think the commission should be a good child and be seen but not heard. They think effective diplomacy is quiet diplomacy."
"The commission," he added, "best situates itself exactly in between."
This year's report may further test its ability to shape Washington's policy.
Pakistan is one of Washington's most crucial allies against al-Qaida and its offshoots, but it also suffers from sectarian violence between majority Sunni Muslims and Shiites that's claimed hundreds of lives, including an April 11 bombing that killed 56 people at a Sunni gathering. The country's small Christian communities have also come under attack.
The commission has recommended "particular concern" status for Pakistan since 2002, but no action has been taken by the State Department.
With Afghanistan, the commission has been highly critical of perceived shortcomings in the country's post-Taliban constitution and legal codes that do not guarantee protections for non-Muslims. The calls should be amplified this year following the arrest of the Christian convert Abdul Rahman, who faced a possible death penalty before charges were dropped and he was granted asylum in Italy.
Cromartie said the new report will "express grave concern" about the ongoing bloodshed in Iraq, but declined to give details. The commission has urged for a special U.S. human rights envoy for Iraq.
The report in the past also asked for more targeted U.S. action against Saudi Arabia for severe limits on non-Muslim worship and its propagation of Wahhabism, a strict form of Islam that the commission calls part of a government-backed ideology "rooted in religious hatred and extremism."
China, too, has been sharply criticized for "systematic and egregious" crackdowns on groups including Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists and Roman Catholics who do not follow the state-sanctioned church.
"People who are working on quiet diplomacy say, `Well, the commission only points out the negative,'" said Cromartie. "Actually this is part of our mandate. Our mandates says: When things are better, we remove you from the list."
___
Religion Writer Rachel Zoll in New York contributed to this report.
___
On the Net:
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom: http://www.uscirf.gov
Email Story IM Story Discuss Printable View RECOMMEND THIS STORY
Recommend It:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's talk turkey here
All morning, I've been praying for God's guidance @ when & how to raise issues that have stood out a mile to me from the past few days' news, yet no-one seems to bring into the open
Today's http://www.metro.co.uk free paper, page 2, reports a survey that found most folk support several policies put forward by the neo-fascist BNP party - till they were told that it's BNP policy
What does this show?
That the veneer of civilisation is very thin & crumbling further & further
Bible prophets repeatedly expose attitudes to strangers & foreigners as betraying deep inner malaise: more than 1 media pundit has said the same
What really highlighted & intensified my prayers today was hearing Paul Scanlon, on AoG 2005 @ http://www.God.TV call for greater vision among God's people
Unfortunately, he seems so carried away with his beautiful grandchildren that he totally forgot, in his repeated call to 'have a cathedral in your heart for your children & your children's children', that the Bible makes it crystal clear that we are in the climax generation of all history, that will see Messiah return, first for the instant airlift rescue of all who love Jesus, as in Matt 24:30-31 & 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, etc, then to fight Armageddon as in Joel 3, Zechariah 14 & Revelation 16-19
I'd woken up coughing & choking 3 times last night: warm weather makes Bootle coal dust, metal dust, flour dust & dust from bone meal, etc, even worse
All morning, I've been aware that, unless God chooses to open a door to a sheltered flat on high ground - (standard medical advice to move where the air is clean) - I'll be dead before summer ends
That reminded me, very forcefully, that the pollution prophesied in Isaiah 24 - @ 800 years BC - is choking the entire planet, as industrialisation rapidly sreads in China & India, etc
Iran has enough oil to power her for 230 years, so 'peaceful' nuclear prog is a total lie: they are preparing for Ezekiel 38-39, aide by Russia, just as prophesied there
As are Al Qaida
I'm reminded of the rich fool who said, "Soul, you have much goods laid up for many days: eat, drink & be merry"
& Jesus said, "You fool, this very night, your soul shall be required of you"
I'm remoinded of Jeremiah 7 & Jer 26 - both chapters that sum up the burden of the book, faced as he was with a people fixated on "the Temple!... the Temple!... the Temple!"
Someone on Christian TV 2/3 days ago highlighted the disciples' similar fixation in Matthew 24, Mark 13 & Luke 21
& how Jesus had to tell them that, not only would the Temple be utterly destroyed soon, but that His return to Earth would be brought on by the multiplying, intensifying birthpains of all kinds of natural, social & spiritual disasters working together to destroy Earth & all life on it
Jesus specifically promised that this generation, that began with the oft-promised rebirth of Israel, would have to be CUT SHORT by that Rapture rescue, OTHERWISE NO FLESH WOULD SURVIVE
We need to focus on finishing our Great Commission, to speed Christ's return & cut short the awful persecution of Christians in this global spirit of antichrist, prophesied to spread by satanic deceptive wonders, etc, in 2 Thessalonians
"God does not dwell in temples made with hands"
As even Scanlon has often said, God's prime concern is 'to seek & to save the lost'
To get here, I cross the road by the Empire Theatre, which recently put on 'Singalonga Joseph' - whose main song is the old Jason Donovan hit, "Any Dream Will Do"
Not per God's Word
Why?
"The heart of man is deceitful above all things & desparately wicked"
Don't let this centenary of the Azusa Street outpouring of the Holy Spirit be characterised by losing our clear vision of the urgency of the times, that has always characterised Pentecostal mission fervour
"Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed"
So forget being 'like children playing in the marketplace'
What galvanised this old security guard even more was walking over to this public PC & seeing that the rather strong, fit young man on the next PC has a T shirt with "The Antichrist" on the back
I did what I always do, as I have shared in here several times: I pulled out my Gideons Bible & put it on the printer between us, maintaining the relaxed alertness that my martial arts training taught me
U.S. Panel Scans Religious Freedom Abroad
ATHENS, Greece - A U.S. government panel on religious freedom will raise alarms about Islamic extremism in Pakistan and rights for non-Muslims in Afghanistan in a report critical of key American trading partners and allies in the war on terror.
In its annual report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is also expected to renew its call for tougher measures against nations such as Saudi Arabia and economic giant China if they don't work to end religious persecution.
While the report  which goes to Capitol Hill on May 1 and is made public two days later  is not final and could change, commission officials interviewed by The Associated Press offered outlines of commission priorities, including concerns on Pakistan, Afghanistan and the mounting sectarian clashes in Iraq.
The commission's positions have caused friction with some U.S. officials worried about any possible disruptions to important trade talks or anti-terrorism alliances.
The commission, an independent body appointed by the White House and Congress, has no policy-making authority. But it has claimed an increasingly high profile especially since Sept. 11, 2001, as religious rights sometimes conflict with other U.S. priorities. Officials interviewed by the AP, including commission chairman Michael Cromartie, suggested this year's report will not back away from those sometimes inconvenient critiques.
The criticisms do not compel any specific action from Washington, and many of the commission proposals for economic and diplomatic sanctions are ignored. Yet the commission's reports increasingly serve as diplomatic leverage.
"There are a few countries that really don't care what we think," said Cromartie, citing North Korea and Iran. "But, by and large, most of them are really quite petrified  actually to my surprise  about being named by the commission.
"Religion and human rights have always been a kind of backwater of diplomacy," said Tom Farr, a former State Department official who is writing a book on religion and U.S. policies. "The commission struggles against this. It tries to push the State Department."
Currently, the State Department has designated eight "countries of particular concern" for denying religious openness based on commission recommendations, including Saudi Arabia, China, Iran and Sudan. Six other countries are on the commission "watch list," including Egypt, Indonesia and Nigeria.
The commission was created by Congress in 1998 to give religious issues greater weight on foreign policy. Its nine-member board over the years has included a broad range of clergy members, activists, educators and Washington heavyweights such as current U.N. Ambassador John Bolton and Elliott Abrams, now a national security adviser.
Its backers  including an unusual cross-section of liberals and conservatives  see it as a clear-eyed observer that is not restrained by the diplomatic layers at the State Department.
But critics come from two directions.
Human rights groups often want a more activist approach that's far outside the commission's scope. Others, however, say the commission goes too far. They believe the commission's calls for new sanctions  and sometimes direct criticism of State Department caution  sends mixed signals.
A former ambassador-at-large for the commission, Robert Seiple, said countries are confused by "vinegar and honey" approaches between the commission and the State Department.
"Rights groups think the commission is too tame," said Michael Young, who served as chairman of the commission from 1999-2005 and is the University of Utah's president. "On the other side, people think the commission should be a good child and be seen but not heard. They think effective diplomacy is quiet diplomacy."
"The commission," he added, "best situates itself exactly in between."
This year's report may further test its ability to shape Washington's policy.
Pakistan is one of Washington's most crucial allies against al-Qaida and its offshoots, but it also suffers from sectarian violence between majority Sunni Muslims and Shiites that's claimed hundreds of lives, including an April 11 bombing that killed 56 people at a Sunni gathering. The country's small Christian communities have also come under attack.
The commission has recommended "particular concern" status for Pakistan since 2002, but no action has been taken by the State Department.
With Afghanistan, the commission has been highly critical of perceived shortcomings in the country's post-Taliban constitution and legal codes that do not guarantee protections for non-Muslims. The calls should be amplified this year following the arrest of the Christian convert Abdul Rahman, who faced a possible death penalty before charges were dropped and he was granted asylum in Italy.
Cromartie said the new report will "express grave concern" about the ongoing bloodshed in Iraq, but declined to give details. The commission has urged for a special U.S. human rights envoy for Iraq.
The report in the past also asked for more targeted U.S. action against Saudi Arabia for severe limits on non-Muslim worship and its propagation of Wahhabism, a strict form of Islam that the commission calls part of a government-backed ideology "rooted in religious hatred and extremism."
China, too, has been sharply criticized for "systematic and egregious" crackdowns on groups including Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists and Roman Catholics who do not follow the state-sanctioned church.
"People who are working on quiet diplomacy say, `Well, the commission only points out the negative,'" said Cromartie. "Actually this is part of our mandate. Our mandates says: When things are better, we remove you from the list."
___
Religion Writer Rachel Zoll in New York contributed to this report.
___
On the Net:
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom: http://www.uscirf.gov
Email Story IM Story Discuss Printable View RECOMMEND THIS STORY
Recommend It:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's talk turkey here
All morning, I've been praying for God's guidance @ when & how to raise issues that have stood out a mile to me from the past few days' news, yet no-one seems to bring into the open
Today's http://www.metro.co.uk free paper, page 2, reports a survey that found most folk support several policies put forward by the neo-fascist BNP party - till they were told that it's BNP policy
What does this show?
That the veneer of civilisation is very thin & crumbling further & further
Bible prophets repeatedly expose attitudes to strangers & foreigners as betraying deep inner malaise: more than 1 media pundit has said the same
What really highlighted & intensified my prayers today was hearing Paul Scanlon, on AoG 2005 @ http://www.God.TV call for greater vision among God's people
Unfortunately, he seems so carried away with his beautiful grandchildren that he totally forgot, in his repeated call to 'have a cathedral in your heart for your children & your children's children', that the Bible makes it crystal clear that we are in the climax generation of all history, that will see Messiah return, first for the instant airlift rescue of all who love Jesus, as in Matt 24:30-31 & 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, etc, then to fight Armageddon as in Joel 3, Zechariah 14 & Revelation 16-19
I'd woken up coughing & choking 3 times last night: warm weather makes Bootle coal dust, metal dust, flour dust & dust from bone meal, etc, even worse
All morning, I've been aware that, unless God chooses to open a door to a sheltered flat on high ground - (standard medical advice to move where the air is clean) - I'll be dead before summer ends
That reminded me, very forcefully, that the pollution prophesied in Isaiah 24 - @ 800 years BC - is choking the entire planet, as industrialisation rapidly sreads in China & India, etc
Iran has enough oil to power her for 230 years, so 'peaceful' nuclear prog is a total lie: they are preparing for Ezekiel 38-39, aide by Russia, just as prophesied there
As are Al Qaida
I'm reminded of the rich fool who said, "Soul, you have much goods laid up for many days: eat, drink & be merry"
& Jesus said, "You fool, this very night, your soul shall be required of you"
I'm remoinded of Jeremiah 7 & Jer 26 - both chapters that sum up the burden of the book, faced as he was with a people fixated on "the Temple!... the Temple!... the Temple!"
Someone on Christian TV 2/3 days ago highlighted the disciples' similar fixation in Matthew 24, Mark 13 & Luke 21
& how Jesus had to tell them that, not only would the Temple be utterly destroyed soon, but that His return to Earth would be brought on by the multiplying, intensifying birthpains of all kinds of natural, social & spiritual disasters working together to destroy Earth & all life on it
Jesus specifically promised that this generation, that began with the oft-promised rebirth of Israel, would have to be CUT SHORT by that Rapture rescue, OTHERWISE NO FLESH WOULD SURVIVE
We need to focus on finishing our Great Commission, to speed Christ's return & cut short the awful persecution of Christians in this global spirit of antichrist, prophesied to spread by satanic deceptive wonders, etc, in 2 Thessalonians
"God does not dwell in temples made with hands"
As even Scanlon has often said, God's prime concern is 'to seek & to save the lost'
To get here, I cross the road by the Empire Theatre, which recently put on 'Singalonga Joseph' - whose main song is the old Jason Donovan hit, "Any Dream Will Do"
Not per God's Word
Why?
"The heart of man is deceitful above all things & desparately wicked"
Don't let this centenary of the Azusa Street outpouring of the Holy Spirit be characterised by losing our clear vision of the urgency of the times, that has always characterised Pentecostal mission fervour
"Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed"
So forget being 'like children playing in the marketplace'
What galvanised this old security guard even more was walking over to this public PC & seeing that the rather strong, fit young man on the next PC has a T shirt with "The Antichrist" on the back
I did what I always do, as I have shared in here several times: I pulled out my Gideons Bible & put it on the printer between us, maintaining the relaxed alertness that my martial arts training taught me